The Black Monday Murders Vol. 1

What is this all about?

(Spoilers ahead!) History tells us that on Black Thursday, October 24th, 1929, the stock market crash caused several stockbrokers to take their own lives, unwilling to take responsibility for their failures. Well, this time, history is a lie. For well over a hundred and fifty years, the investment bank Caina and the four pillars of their foundational board structure (The Watcher, The Ascendant Seat, The Scales and The Stone Chair), has controlled the wealth and power from the shadows with blood sacrifices to the God Mammon to balance the distribution of power.

The ruling families of Caina’s board of directors, the Bischoffs, the Dominics, the Rothschilds and the Ackermanns survive the amalgamation with Kankarin Troika following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 only to see the very foundations of their consolidated power shaken in 2016 following the murder of David Rothschild.

We join the ruling board members of Caina just as Black Thursday in 1929 starts…

The Review

The prologue starts on Black Thursday, October 24th, 1929. We join Charles Ackermann in his office at the Caina bank tower promptly at 10:24 am. Charles drinks his morning tea as his butler hands him the morning’s early reports from the trading floor. Suddenly, in mid-conversation, Charles begins to bleed profusely from his nose, uttering a few words in a strange, incomprehensible language. At the same time on the trading floor, the lead stockbroker managing the open outcry for bids also starts to bleed and writes the symbols of the language Ackermann was speaking on his clipboard.

Charles’s butler offers to call a doctor to help deal with the bleeding to which Charles replies “It’s not me, you damned fool…it’s the money,” which is your first indicator that is so much more than a stock market crash. Charles then stumbles into the room with Milton Rothschild, J.W. Bischoff, Raymond Dominic and a tall, albino woman (whom we later discover is Milton’s Familiar, Abigail, who also speaks the strange language), demanding to know if the situation is just another correction or if there are other omens.

Raymond confirms it is, in fact, a crash and it is then decided that a sacrifice must be made in order to balance out the scales. J.W. is asked to start with the elimination of the senior brokers and Raymond brings out a set of scales from a briefcase. When Charles begs him not to go through with it, Raymond tells him that “You made a deal. We all did. We traded one thing for another and got rich doing so. But all that power-all that money-can’t buy our way out of the original transaction. We pay what we owe. It just so happens that you’re the one sitting in the Stone Chair.”

Milton Rothschild then unsheathes a long spear and when Charles tells them all to go to hell, Milton simply states, “Not before you, Charles. And you…not alone.” It becomes clear that it is the board member sitting in the Stone Chair is the official blood sacrifice to the God Mammon.

As this is happening inside Caina’s head office, we see the stock brokers falling off building roofs and jumping out windows with captions that state “They’ll tell stories of the once well-monied who gambled and lost. Reckless men who leapt to their deaths, unwilling to face their failure and what was to follow. The people will believe these stories, as in the aftermath, they too, will have lost everything. But it won’t be real. It won’t be what actually happened. You see, part of what makes it magic is the illusion..and oh, how the poor love the lie.”

We’re then treated to what looks like a typed memo where the writer wants to develop a website where people can fact check urban legends and make it seem as though the creators and the website are completely above board. Due to their reputation, they believe people would pay a premium for the website but the website itself is a lie. Below that, the claim of the stockbrokers jumping out the windows was debunked as that claim had previously been substantiated by Prime Minister Churchill who thought he saw men jumping out the windows. However, according to his obituary, he had mistaken a window washer for a jumping stockbroker. History sides with those in power, indeed.

Milton, Raymond, and J.W. assess the damage as the market closes, determining that the market closed at 12% down and they lost every broker in the firm. However, Raymond said that they’ve paid in full and that their position is stabilized but that greater market scales are still unbalanced and the sickness will spread. All three men, along with the mysterious Abigail stand viewing Charles’s naked body and the surrounding carpet, covered in strange symbols written in blood. Milton advises waiting for the market to panic and sell-and when all the stocks are available for pennies, they will buy them all.

Chapter 1 starts with an official explanation of how Caina was founded in 1857 on its traditional four pillar foundation and rotating power structure. Based on a 12-year schedule, each board member spends 3 years at each station per cycle. In 1989, the Caina board members permanently relinquished the Stone Chair to the Kankarin Troika during the merger and instead instituted a sabbatical to replace the 3 year Stone Chair term, though the Stone Chair is still an official seat on the board.

We’re given a more in-depth look at the individual board members in 1929 and what each of their positions entail. J.W. Bischoff is the Watcher, a trader and teacher who measures the comings and goings of the gifted. Milton Rothschild holds the Ascendant Seat and is the spear and the voice of Mammon on the Caina board (meaning he enacts the blood sacrifices). He is also the de facto head of the Academy and can cast a second vote to break a tie. As The Scales, Raymond Dominic works with the Ascendant Seat on gauging the volatility of the market and has the ability to perceive balance. And as we saw earlier, Charles Ackermann had the position of The Stone Chair and therefore was the sacrificial lamb, the one who pays the blood price when Mammon takes his piece.

Next, we see a chart that details all of the Stone Chair holders from 1929 to 1989 when it converted permanently to Kankarin Troika who continues to hold the seat in the present day. Strangely, unlike that of Charles Ackermann, it seems as though many of the others had survived more than one rotation in the Stone Chair such as J.W. Bischoff, Milton Rothschild and later descendants Wynn Ackermann and Raven Bischoff. Could it be that the blood price doesn’t always have to mean death? Meanwhile, the Dominics seemingly weathered an internal civil war, as several of them including Raymond Dominic, died in 1963.

On Halloween 2016, we join Detective Theo Dumas of the NYPD, who is being press ganged back to work after being suspended. His captain tells him to check it out to see if it’s one of ‘his’ cases as the location of it being in the Financial District bothers him. If it turns out to be one of ‘his’ cases, he can get back on the job. Detective Dumas shakes bones belonging to his departed grandfather in a wooden cup before reading them and taking that to mean a sign for him to take the case.

In a heavily redacted report, we see that Detective Dumas had been suspended because he approached an unarmed man and shot him to death. Shortly before the victim was shot, Detective Dumas said something to the effect of “I see you.” We would soon find out why the good detective would kill an unarmed man.

Back at the Caina-Kankarin investment bank, we join Viktor Eresko, who is giving a presentation to a group of finance students. He tells them that when the Berlin Wall fell, it actually marked the birth of a global market, the inevitable single financial reality that Caina-Kankarin saw a decade ahead of its time, the embodiment of the current aggression in the marketplace. As a student asks him a question, he hands her a coin and utters a phrase in that strange, ancient language. Then, two other coins appear in her hands to which Viktor tells her “The one you started with. The one you’re paying for. The one for profit. Remember this.” It is a phrase that will appear more than once throughout Vol 1.

Viktor also tells the students that the first million they make will be self-financed, that they will earn it with their own blood and the cost of it will be their health, friends, and family. After the first million, however, they can’t expect to make more with that philosophy. Instead, it will be done on the backs of others, regardless of whether you refer to them as workers or slaves. What they do falls outside all societal norms and they are above reproach.

Alexi, the actual course professor, approaches Viktor and chides him for not showing restraint in his honesty towards the students. Viktor simply states that if the truth would kill a man, then that man is supposed to die, that “delicacy is wasted on blunt instruments.” The conversation then changes to the reason why Alexi approached Viktor in the first place. He tells Viktor that there has been a murder, that the Wheel has been broken and that it happened on one of their properties. Thanks to the board, he has been dispatched to bring Grigoria Rothschild home.

Meanwhile, Detective Dumas has made it to the Trair Building, where the murder took place. As his colleagues debate how to obtain the security footage quicker, Detective Dumas identifies the victim as Daniel Rothschild. Detective Caffey introduces him to the new Detective Moreno and reveals exactly why Detective Dumas had been suspended. He shot and killed the unarmed victim the month before but instead of going to jail, he was suspended after it was discovered that the victim had 8 and a half heads in his freezer with the next victim tied to the bed. Detective Caffey claims that their captain believes that Detective Dumas has a secret and yet no one knows what it is. As he states, “Just like, how did he somehow know who this rich guy was by simply by walking into the room? I mean, no one’s that lucky. Right?” Detective Dumas replies by saying he finds it surprising that neither detective working in the financial district could recognize the managing partner of the largest investment firm even though his body was right in front of them.

Detective Dumas then tells his colleagues to finish and seal up the crime scene and not let anyone in until he comes back at 8 pm. When asked why he’d come back at 8 pm, he told them to take note of the items placed around the victim’s body. There are 3 glasses, 6 candles, 9 books and 12 chess pieces- a clock. He will return at 8 pm EST because that’s when the Japanese stock market opens.

Next, we’re informed via fact sheet that historically, all major and minor stock market crashes take place in October and that Samhain is celebrated from sunset on Oct. 31st to sunset on Nov. 1st. It is the midpoint of the autumn equinox and the winter solstice during the month-long feast of Mammon where the veil between this world & the next is the thinnest, making communion with God possible.

Meanwhile, Alexi meets with Grigoria and her Familiar Abby, who is yet another tall, thin albino woman who speaks the strange, ancient language. He tells Ria that her brother has been murdered and that they need her to take his place in the Ascendant seat on the board. When she asks whether Alexi has a hunch on who killed Daniel, he mocks and insults her. Ria responds that they don’t have a choice as Wynn Ackermann has disappeared so she’s the only one who can take her brother’s seat. When he demands that they expect compliance and gratitude from her, Abby physically threatens him. Alexi backs down from his previous stance, telling Ria that he’s happy she’s home and changing the conversation to his students, claiming that they believe money falls from the sky, rather than being pulled from the Earth.

The Rothschild family tree is displayed between sections, where it’s shown that Milton Rothschild and his wife Samantha had three children: William, Cynthia and Francis. Cynthia and Francis were sacrificed to Mammon while William and Millie gave birth to Ria and her brother Daniel. Interestingly, the connection between Milton and Abigail as his Familiar is also included in the family tree with Abigail’s descendants Abbrielle and Abby listed as well-clearly a point that needs more exploration.

As Detective Dumas arrives back at the Triar Building promptly at 8 pm, a blinding light shines from the opposite building, which results in the strange symbols in that ancient language being illuminated on the wall, written in blood.

We’re taken back in time to December 1985 in East Berlin, before the fall of the wall and the Caina-Kanakarin merger. Director Mischa Wolf meets with Alexi and Viktor at the wall, standing by an unusual machine that looks like a wind turbine/jet engine that’s somehow powering a glass tube. The mystery deepens when a Romani man is brought out and placed in the tube. Director Wolf looks on in horror as the tube fills with water and the man drowns. Viktor claims that “One must always pay for safe passage, director. It is the currency that changes with the destination. For travel of this sort, water is the best medium.” A portal opens and Viktor and Alexi descend a set of winding stairs as Director Wolf stands to watch.

Alexi and Viktor end up meeting Daniel, Ria, Beatrix Bischoff and Marco Dominic inside an ancient castle dedicated to the God Mammon. Daniel tells them that there is a market crash coming and it’s exactly the news they’ve been waiting for.

Chapter Two dawns on the present day where Ria and Abby have arrived at Caina-Kanakarin headquarters. Ria joins the board meeting where Beatrix declares that while Daniel’s murder was a tragedy, it’s time that the board put it behind them and asks Ria to come back. Ria, however, has her own set of conditions.

At the same time, Detective Dumas approaches Dr. Gaddis at Fordham University to ask about the strange symbols that appeared on the office wall inside the Triar building the night before. It seems Dr. Gaddis knows more about the language than he previously let on, evidenced by these words. “I’ve hidden in this place—in this room-while time and fear have punished me. Now I’m an old man who wasted most of his life just so he could live a little longer.” Is he a previous employee of Caina-Kanakarin who somehow escaped? Only time will tell..

Dr. Gaddis does tell the detective that a certain symbol means ‘epth’ and that the language itself is reported to be the oldest one in recorded history. If he had to make a guess, he would say that the victim was employed by Caina. Detective Dumas is shocked by this admission and as the professor is explaining how he knows that, the detective receives a phone call from Detective Moreno who tells him the security footage from the Triar Building is now available. As the detective and Dr. Gaddis part ways, the professor warns Detective Dumas to be careful to not attract the wrong kind of attention and that it is OK to let sleeping dogs lie. The people involved will try to put him to a decision and if he goes ahead, he better be prepared to operate at the proper depth.

We’re then given the official Caina-Kanakarin board meeting minutes. Beatrice is the Watcher, Marco the Scales, while Alexi sits on the Stone Chair. They’ve re-appointed Ria to the Ascendant seat and agree to use retribution language regarding Daniel’s death. We see Ria and Abby celebrate getting everything they wanted in a less than subtle, though not graphic, sex scene. There is still a long game to be played here that has yet to pay off…

Afterwards, we’re given another piece of Rothschild history as we’re shown a letter to Milton from his father Andrew Davis Rothschild II. It seems the elder Rothschild has just passed away and has left the letter for Milton with specific instructions on how to overcome what he calls the greatest tragedy of an empowered life: brevity. The first option the elder Rothschild gives Milton is to consolidate his power by eliminating the other families but it would not solve the Stone Chair conundrum. The elder Rothschild then advises Milton to petition the Federal Reserve for a Familiar which would give him a proxy on the Stone Chair and prolong his life by at least hundred years. His father also tells Milton to send his grandmother on her way if she, by chance, managed to outlive him.

In the present day, Detectives Dumas and Moreno review the security footage at the Triar Building and come to one conclusion: Viktor Eresko entered the building after Daniel Rothschild, which makes him a suspect. Viktor is then arrested in a dramatic scene with NYPD’s S.W.A.T teams busting down the door to his office.

As Viktor is arrested, we’re given the history of Kankarin-Troika. Since 1936, the Kanakarin-Troika had ingratiated themselves with the communist government and used seasonal campaigns of political repression to root out other banks and take them out of the competition. They adopted the judge/jury/executioner triad of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) Troika as their own with Irina Koslov as the Judge, Alexi as the Jury and Viktor the Executioner. The Kanakarin universal mantra of “We are born. We pay in blood. We become,” evolved into “the one you started with. The one you’re paying for. The one for profit.”

While Viktor is being marched out of the building, head of Caina security Thomas Dane gives Detective Dumas some advice to move Viktor around to keep the lawyers off his scent and tells him that Ria has a few questions she would like answered.

When Detective Dumas arrives in her office, Ria apologizes for not being herself and tells him that while she and Daniel were once close, a permanent wedge was driven between them when following the Caina-Kanakarin merger, they were no longer allowed to share the Ascendant seat. Daniel got to stay while Ria was sent away without a choice in the matter. She had spent many years angry that Daniel had a choice, while she did not. She does, however, believe that things are sufficiently more complicated than Viktor simply murdering her brother in cold blood. Detective Dumas shows Ria the paper with the strange symbols on it, asking if she can read it. Ria deflects but she clearly has a visual reaction to seeing the symbols. Detective Dumas deduces that she’s lying-but he’s less interested in why and more curious about what she knows.

Ria manages to recover when Detective Dumas shares the information he received from Dr. Gaddis about the ancient language, asking him if his grandfather practiced voodoo. As it turns out, his grandmother was the practitioner and Ria asks if he too, is a believer. Detective Dumas claims it’s professional curiosity but Ria says that the problem with voodoo and other religions is that it’s full of dabblers, people on the fringes who try to control the uncontrollable. She warns him that Caina-Kanakarin “is a den of industry. See our teeth.” She then tells him that she wanted to see him in order to get a look at who she was dealing with and to know that Daniel’s case won’t be a high profile one that will get closed quickly. Ria seriously questions if Detective Dumas is a dabbler or if he’s serious and Detective Dumas states that he’ll get to the bottom of it and that if there is no bottom, he’ll still see how deep it goes.

As Detective Dumas leaves, the contents of the cryptic note in the strange language are finally revealed through a conversation between Ria and Abby. It says We Know.

Detective Caffey and Detective Moreno attempt to interview Viktor at the precinct and predictably, it’s not going well. Viktor continues to play mind games with them even when Caffey threatens him with a beating if he doesn’t cooperate. Viktor is undeterred, claiming that what looks like a victory is not actually victory at all, using Napoleon as an example. He claims that “history has always punished those who misinterpret the strength of their position. It’s one of life’s small joys,” before referring to Caffey as a fucking peasant which results in the detective punching Viktor in the face.

Ria views her brother’s body in the morgue and discovered the symbols carved into his body, silently vowing revenge. We move to the heavily redacted official transcript of Viktor’s conversation with Andrew Wright, one of Caina-Kanakrian’s lawyers. Viktor is adamant that he’s making his own plans and doesn’t need the help of a lawyer. He doubles down on this stance after it’s revealed that Andrew is there at the behest of Beatrix, which is exactly what Viktor expects of her in The Watcher position. Viktor knows that the board will be expecting a report from Andrew and that he has thrown them off balance and that’s why they’re leaning towards conservation. Andrew deduces that Viktor is arrogant and that he needs to be brought to heel-something, Viktor says, no man has ever been able to do. Viktor then tells Andrew that he may have a use for him yet. He wants him to get another detective into the interrogation room, offer him a statement and then Viktor is going to walk out of there. Andrew tells him that he needs to know what actually happened in order to be sure of the second thing. Viktor tells him the course of events but it’s all completely redacted, only with the words “You will never understand what I really am”, displayed out of the conversation. Viktor wants to tell him how he’s going to get away with it by telling one truth and one lie-Andrew will have to discern which it is.

The rest of that portion of the conversation is redacted, outside of the words “See the blood pouring from my mouth dripping down my chin.” Andrew believes it to be a credible lie that will work and Viktor seems unperturbed as Detective Dumas walks in.

Andrew acknowledges that it was Viktor on the surveillance footage and that he’s offering to help solve the crime. Andrew claims that Viktor was coerced by two members of the Odessa mafia to gain access to the corporate box in the Triar building and they were the ones that murdered Daniel while Viktor was forced to watch. After debating the story, Detective Dumas simply shows Viktor the note with the strange symbols. After Viktor corrected Detective Dumas on the pronunciation of the symbol as ‘eif’ rather than ‘epth’, the detective asks him if he wrote it. We’re then taken to a flashback where Viktor proceeded to brutally murder Daniel before writing the symbols on the wall and on his own chest. Back in the interrogation room, Viktor denies having ever written the symbols but he does confirm Ria’s earlier assertions on the note. It says ‘we know’.

Detective Dumas tells Viktor that he doesn’t care about the manufactured alibi, he wants to know what Viktor would tell him if it was just the two of them having a conversation. Viktor responds by stabbing himself in the hand and using his blood to write the symbols on the table while speaking in the strange language. As he does so, Andrew’s eyes turn completely white and Viktor orders him to bang his head against the table until he stops. As Andrew starts to hurt himself, Viktor tells Detective Dumas that he seeks the truth but the problem is that he started with a lie. “You think this is about a murder, but it’s not. It’s about murders. An endless number of them. The history of Wall Street is written in blood…it’s an industry built on human sacrifice.”

Viktor tells the good detective that he needs to ask the right questions, starting with what happened with the dozens of Wall Street traders that disappear every year and why no one cares. Viktor gives the order for Andrew to stop and the man falls, covered in blood, to the floor. When Detective Dumas asks what the hell happened, Viktor states “A man asked me for the truth. So, I leaned over and whispered it to him. Let’s see what he does with it now.”

Meanwhile, preparations have been made for Daniel’s funeral, where security chief Thomas Dane tells Ria that the Black Pope will not be attending the church service but that Viktor will be, as the NYPD couldn’t hold him.

As we close out Chapter 3, we shift gears to an old diary of Wynn Ackermann’s (who has yet to make an appearance as he’s on sabbatical). In the first entry, he’s five years old in 1975 and explains that he has to live with Raven Bischoff after the Banes killed his entire family.

Chapter 4 starts with more diary entries from Wynn Ackermann. In May 1976, he speaks about learning things in order to take his place as the youngest board member in Caina and how Beatrix would read to him. In December of that year, the Bischoffs and the other families take their revenge on the Banes as Wynn eats the heart of Desmond Bane and takes his place on the board as The Watcher.

Detective Dumas goes back to Fordham University to see Dr. Gaddis after what Viktor revealed to him and Dr. Gaddis offers his condolences for what happened and re-iterates that he did try to warn the detective. “…Because who of the well-kept believes a madman talking about a burning earth and the long history of human sacrifice? Even when the ground shakes and blood runs through the streets, they choose not to believe. But we know better, don’t we detective? The world we see is smoke…and it’s all the evidence we need to know the flames are real.”

We’re taken back in time to 1962 where William, Daniel and Ria’s father, introduces his children and his wife to his father, Milton. Milton states that the twins are a complication that the family doesn’t need. William has compounded the debt his twins will one day owe as he has diluted the family line. He has fallen far short of the family standard and for that, he will pay. And sure enough, in the present, on Daniel’s memorial program, it states that his debt has been paid.

In 1972, Ria tells her grandfather that all she wants for her birthday is to know the truth of what happened to her parents. Milton tells her that “I was born ninety years ago, but do not look a day over sixty. I am strong because I have devoured many….Whenever possible, it’s best to eat your own. I murdered your father and drank his blood, because that blood was wasted on him.” He also tells Ria that he gifted her mother to Abaddon and that now that she knows the truth, to enjoy her birthday. Daniel and Ria then promise to never hurt each other.

The next diary entry from Wynn Ackermann details the death of Raven Bischoff due to the Stone Chair and how Beatrix took her mother’s place before we rejoin Daniel’s memorial service in progress. The cardinal who took the Black Pope’s place in funeral proceedings states that “someone has been taken from us. Blood has been stolen…and this someone must be found.”

We flashback to 1981, where Ria is woken up by crunching noises. She creeps down the stairs to the library, only to find Abby feasting on Milton’s corpse. From there, their romantic entanglement started. As the cardinal steps away from the podium to allow Ria to speak, we’re shown another one of Wynn Ackermann’s diary entries, this time from 1980. That’s when Wynn first brings up the idea to abolish the Stone Chair with Beatrix. Though it doesn’t take then, Wynn states, “After all, what’s the power for if you can’t shape the world into something more accommodating of your desires?” In 1981, Wynn claims that he likes the new Rothschilds (Daniel and Ria) and that he may have finally found what he was looking for.

The final piece from the flashbacks slots into place as we see Daniel and Ria putting the plans for the meeting inside the Berlin Wall in 1989 in place. They work behind the scenes to put the deal with the Kanakarin School in place, using the collapse to their advantage by offering an olive branch to the Russians. They also decide to drop the Rothschild seat back to one and Daniel will be the one to leave.

We are taken back to Daniel’s memorial service where Ria states that as she looks around at the assembled crowd, all she sees are enemies. Enemies who stole her birthright cast her out and offered no sanctuary as she fled but the old ways are returning. “To that end, I am willing to forgive your past sins against my house. I bring a reckoning…You can stand with me or be moved aside. The choice is yours,” Ria affirms.

We flash back to the deal in 1989 where Ria was betrayed by her brother. Daniel told Beatrix of their plans and as a result, the board voted to exile Ria as they knew that she wanted to stay while Daniel wanted to run. At Daniel’s memorial, Ria places a kiss on her brother’s brow and tells him that she forgives him. Ria leaves the church and lights it on fire. The story ends on an ominous note as she says “Goodbye Daniel. You would have loved what I have planned next.”

Final Words

Although I admit to initially feeling confused regarding details such as the ancient language the board members of Caina-Kanakarin are able to speak, what Abby being a Familiar means (does she have abilities? How would Familiars die?) and how exactly board members were able to avoid certain death with The Stone Chair (especially when Charles Ackermann didn’t), the overall story gripped me.

Not only is there a murder mystery front and center, though it may be a red herring that Viktor was the one to kill Daniel, there is an ancient cult who provides sacrifices to the God Mammon in order to hang onto power and wealth in one of the most renowned financial centers of the world. The board members of Caina-Kanakarin have survived betrayal, treachery, outside interference and even stock market crashes to achieve near immortality. I’m honestly on the edge of my seat and excited to see what Ria has planned. Is she going to eliminate all the other families and completely consolidate Caina-Kanakarin’s power under the Rothschild name? Only time will tell. And what about Detective Dumas? What will he do with his newfound knowledge that Viktor has shown him? Is Dr. Gaddis going to be able to give the detective some clarity on what to do or will they be able to do anything at all with the knowledge of Daniel’s murder?

But what makes the story really compelling is not so subtle allusions to Wall Street in reality. Is Jonathan Hickman obliquely implying that Wall Street investment banks like Goldman Sachs have made pacts with the devil to continue to amass wealth and power while everyone else toils away and no one notices when a trader on the stock market floor disappears? No, I don’t think that that’s exactly what he’s saying but with the Bank Rescue of 2008 following the 2007-2008 financial crisis, it certainly seems as though the large financial institutions are somewhat immune to any kind of economic impact.

After all, while Bernie Madoff sits in prison for enacting the largest Ponzi scheme in history, it’s not as though his investors have received the money that was stolen from them. The police captain said it best in his musings to Detective Dumas while they watched Viktor at the station. “It’s the classism of all of it that gets to me. Tell me, Theo, when was the last time this guy used the same door as everyone else? Hell, when’s the last time you think this asshole had to carry his own bag? Rich people…They get everything they want and on top of that…they get away with it every single time.” There is a class structure that grants those who are rich diplomatic immunity to all consequences from law enforcement, from the government and from the rest of society, including those who are less wealthy. Indeed, it seems the best justice can come only from their wealthy counterparts and that has me excited for the next chapter and Ria’s plans for revenge.

More Info

But what makes the story really compelling is not so subtle allusions to Wall Street in reality. Is Jonathan Hickman obliquely implying that Wall Street investment banks like Goldman Sachs have made pacts with the devil to continue to amass wealth and power while everyone else toils away and no one notices when a trader on the stock market floor disappears?